He is the Gift

Every year we attend the BYU Celebration of Christmas program.  Every year it is good, but this year it was exceptional.  Each of the BYU choirs perform as well as the BYU Philharmonic orchestra. I felt the spirit of Christmas so strongly that it brought me to tears.  It is such a power experience to see hundreds of these good kids sharing their talents and bring the Christmas spirit for all of us to enjoy.  They were sharing The Gift. After the concert, the Men's Chorus gave an encore out in the foyer of the HFAC.  Someone captured it on video and posted it to YouTube.  It will give you some idea of how wonderful it was! How will you share The Gift?

Here is a small glimpse of what we heard.





I love the lyrics:
Come, Lord Jesus

Come, Lord Jesus, to the manger; may we see they tender face?
Great creator, here a stranger, infant in this humble place.
Darkness scatter, morning swell: come dear Lord Immanuel.
Come, Lord Jesus to the manger.
Come Lord Jesus, come.

Come, Lord Jesus to the wounded
Broken heart and bended knee
Worthy lamp they love unbounded
Heal our souls to rest in peace.

Come in glory, truth proclaim
Come to us to rule and reign.
Ready us to knell and greet thee
Come, Lord Jesus come.

Come, Lord Jesus great Redeemer
Light of morning from the east.
We will be thy children ever
Dry our tears, all weeping cease.

Come in glory to, truth proclaim
Come to us to rule and reign
Ready us to knell and greet thee
Come, Lord Jesus come.

Come, Lord Jesus to the manger,
Come, Lord Jesus come.

If you want a copy of the music, it is available here.

He is the Gift

Thousands of people in our state come together every year to contribute their time and talents to raise money for the regional Primary Children's hospital in Salt Lake City at the annual Festival of Trees.  I haven't attended this event for years, but this year I wanted to go and take my friend Cydnee.  We had a fun afternoon looking at the thousands of trees of all sizes, as well as quilts, crafts, ginger bread houses and more that were donated by giving people.  It gave us great ideas for tree decorating and she later helped me decorate my tree!  The festival is such a great example of what can happen when many people come together for a common cause.  I'd love to participate another year and contribute to this worthy cause.  I marvel at how people shared their gifts. I took a bunch of pictures of FROZEN trees because I knew my little grand girls would love to see these pictures.  How will you share The Gift?

Cydnee is a Ute fan.  I am not.  It's a friendly rivalry.

He is the Gift

The first gift of Christmas was a simple gift given by a father to all his children, to us. He gave us His son, the Christ. He is the gift. This Christmas season, how will you share the gift? http://christmas.mormon.org

Thanksgiving in Arizona

Arizona in the winter

Visit to the new Phoenix, AZ LDS temple

We had a great time last week traveling to Arizona to be with our kids.  Andy and Chelsea went with us as far as Las Vegas.  We dropped them off with Chelsea's mother, but not before we had a wonderful evening with her mom Laura, her sister Audrey,  her grandfather Ralph and his wife Sandie and her aunt Andrea and uncle Scott.  They were such wonderful hosts and treated us to dinner and a night's stay in the fabulous M resort.  It was been fun to get to know them and to enjoy spending time with them in their home town.

The Polar Bear plunge is an annual event
 that everyone hates, but feels compelled to do.
Rick takes the first plunge.

The water is very cold by AZ standards.
 Lauren thinking it over.

Lauren and Jordan head in.

Jake

Rich

Run for the towels!

Two brave girls went in a second time.

Sauerkraut, our favorite side dish!

Delicious meal Jordan served us!

Christmas PJs for the month of December

Mesa AZ temple lights.  Amazing!

Visiting Chelsea's grandmother Betty
 and husband Ron and her family

Getting ready for Thanksgiving dinner!

Afternoon hike among the cactus.

Giving Thanks for ALL our many blessings.

Jordan and Jake were such wonderful hosts and we enjoyed staying with them.  I was sick with a terrible cold two of the days and couldn't do much, but everyone else had a great time.  There was lots of football watched, food made, crafts, hike, movies, temples attended and a great time was had by all.  Each of us wrote five blessings on a paper and they came together to make the Thankful chain shown in the picture.  I'm so thankful for my family.  They are my everything!

Visiting Chelsea's grandparents Ralph and Sandie,
uncle Scott and aunt Andrea.

Thanks for Ralph and Sandie for putting us up one night in this beautiful resort!

My wonderful DIL Courtney turns 29

Courtney is such a wonderful addition to our family.  She meshes so well with all of us and adds a lot to our family dynamics. How could we be so lucky to have our son Dave marry such a dear lady?  She is happy to go with the flow and is so patient and kind to us all.  She is an excellent mother and takes great care to teach and train their little ones.  She sends us little videos and pictures of their children and their latest tricks and stunts.  Charlie can now count to 10 in Chinese and Spanish!  I can see so much of her little Charlie and Margaret in this pictures.  They favor their mother with their sweet dimpled faces. 

She celebrated her birthday on November 29.  Even though she lives on the east coast, we enjoy our Facetime visits and keeping up to date on her comings and goings.  She is always involved in some project, service to others or managing their family affairs.  She is an excellent home maker.  We couldn't ask for any better person than a dear DIL who loves our son and who is raising our grandchildren in a Christ centered home.  Her education gives her a solid foundation for building a strong family.  She is so loving and considerate of me and Rick and we consider her our daughter in every way.  Happy birthday dear girl!